How Critical is Tennessee Volunteers Matchup for Future of Texas A&M Aggies Coach Jimbo Fisher?
Following their loss to Alabama on Saturday, the Texas A&M Aggies currently sit at 4-2 and are still fighting for an SEC West title.
However, according to ESPN's Chris Low during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, this Saturday's matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers is - for lack of a better term - a must-win for head coach Jimbo Fisher.
“I think this is the difference in A&M still being a 9-plus win team and then flirting with .500,” Low told McElroy and Cubelic. “It’s that type of swing game for the Aggies because if you lose two straight, you lose on the road, you’ve still got some tough games remaining, you wonder where this team emotionally gets to."
After the Volunteers, the Aggies, of course, still have tough matchups against two ranked opponents left on the schedule in November in No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 22 LSU - both of which are on the road.
Not to mention, tricky matchups with South Carolina and Mississippi State.
And if the Aggies enter that stretch at 4-3, it is entirely possible to see this team finishing the season at 7-5 or even 6-6.
God forbid, without starting quarterback Conner Weigman in the lineup, the Aggies finish 5-7 once again.
Texas A&M Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher
© Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
“If this team loses two in a row, they’re going to have a hard time having a winning record, or certainly flirting with that six, seven-win type season,” Low said. “And I don’t know how well that’s going to go over in Aggieland after having a losing record last year.”
That said, Low does not believe that the Aggies will make a change if the Aggies season does take a turn for the worse.
“I don’t think there’s any appetite there, now, to make a change, even if they were to go 7-5,” said Low. “Or even 6-6. I think they still want to see with the recruiting classes he’s put together, what he can do.”
Regardless of the financial predicament they find themselves in with his contract, however, the Aggies' recruiting classes over the last three years have been elite, and that plays into the situation as well.
In other words, no matter what happens, Low believes Fisher would survive another poor season in College Station, should it come to that.
“I don’t think that money is an option at that school because they’ve got plenty of it. They would still owe him what? $67 or $70 million? Something like that if they cut ties with him this year," Low said. "I don’t think that’s the primary factor. I think the primary factor is they still want to see what he can do in the next year or two with everything they’ve spent and the way he’s been able to assemble recruiting classes.”
The pivotal swing game between the Aggies and Volunteers will kickoff at 2:30 on Saturday in Knoxville.
